How much Grindage?

General discussion about learning languages

How much grindage should we apply in our language studies?

As little as possible.
7
19%
Some.
20
56%
As much as possible.
9
25%
 
Total votes: 36

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tommus
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Re: How much Grindage?

Postby tommus » Thu Jun 08, 2017 1:29 am

Think of a grinding wheel:

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Re: How much Grindage?

Postby Ani » Thu Jun 08, 2017 6:52 am

serpent wrote:He did say he avoids looking up the new vocabulary instantly and instead waits until it turns into "known unknowns", words that he may find himself recalling in the shower and wondering about the meaning.
(this stage comes after reading parallel texts with 80% coverage)

I'm not sure it's necessarily good for an average learner unless you can genuinely avoid attaching a meaning you're not sure about.


This is something I do pretty frequently. I don't think I have ever had the experience of mulling over a word in the shower, only to attach a random meaning and move on without realizing it. Usually those end up being words I understand deeply and can use actively more quickly than words I had instant gratification on the translation


I agree with Sizen's post and also that more jargon is not helpful. I don't do much anki so I don't know about delay for thinking before checking the answer, but since I speak L2 with my children all day I am constantly "grinding" for accurate vocabulary and translation. I don't equate that with torture at all. It is a puzzle and success is sweet, while giving in and looking things up is interesting. Language learning is a win-win for me.
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Re: How much Grindage?

Postby Sol » Thu Jun 08, 2017 2:46 pm

I think, for me at least, it's good to have a mixture of a lot of "grindage", and then little.

So for example I'll give it my all, work intensively on grammar, and then turn it down a couple notches by watching a show in that language. I feel like during that relaxation period my mind's cogs are turning and putting pieces together in the background while I'm doing easier work. Then when I go back to the grindage, my mind has finished piecing it together and I've reinforced some vocab too from hearing it on the show. I'm now ready for another grindage session.

If that made sense!! I've always noticed that after a break, small or large, from language learning, my ability to learn revs up.
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Re: How much Grindage?

Postby Aozora » Thu Jun 08, 2017 4:22 pm

For myself, I avoid "grindage." If I can't recall a word when doing vocab reviews after a couple seconds, I stop and look at the answer. If that happens while reading I move on or look it up. My goal is to recall things quickly, because it means I remember it well. If I can't remember it well, then it needs more work (like repetition, exposure, context, mnemonics).


I also don't like this definition of "grindage." It just makes me think of grinding, like in gaming. I think of drilling vocab, exercises, or any language task that can be repeated at lot. You can even grind translation if you sit down and translate intensively for a long time with many sessions.
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